Veganism: Vegan diet for children: Be sure to supplement nutrients

There is currently a heated debate about whether children can be safely fed a vegan diet. What do you think?

A vegan diet leads to nutrient deficiencies if you don’t take additional supplements. The risk of such deficiencies is particularly high in children because they are still growing. Vegan diets do not contain vitamin B12, which is essential for blood formation and the functioning of the nervous system. The risk of deficiencies is also increased with other nutrients, for example the long-chain omega-three fatty acid DHA, calcium, iron, zinc and iodine. A mixed vegetarian diet is less problematic, but there are certain things you have to watch out for. We pediatricians believe that a flexitarian diet, in which you eat a lot of plant-based foods but occasionally fish or meat, is best.

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Berthold Koletzko, born in 1954, is a specialist in pediatric and adolescent medicine at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and chairman of the board of the Children’s Health Foundation. He has been researching early childhood nutrition for decades.

Is there a certain age at which it is safer to feed a child a vegan diet?

A vegan diet is not compatible with healthy growth and development unless supplements are taken. This applies to all ages. However, the faster the growth, the quicker deficiencies will appear. This is because the need for nutrients is particularly high at this time. Such phases of rapid growth include infancy and toddlerhood, and puberty. Teenagers experience a real growth spurt during this time and often eat like crazy because they have such a high need. Girls also lose iron through menstruation. If they eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, they are at a particularly high risk of iron deficiency.

Some parents absolutely want to feed their children a vegan diet. Is there a suitable vegan baby formula?

Yes, soy-based infant formula. Although it is not equivalent to cow’s milk-based formula, it is well suited to feeding non-breastfed infants. However, this is different from a soy drink that you buy in a health food store – that is not suitable for infant nutrition.

Isn’t soy infant formula problematic because it contains hormones in the form of phytoestrogens?

Therefore, it is not our first choice. Our first choice is breastfeeding from a well-nourished mother, the second choice is infant formula based on cow’s milk protein. We would only recommend soya formula if this is not acceptable for ideological reasons.

So is it healthier to breastfeed babies for a long time if they are on a vegan diet?

First of all: Breastfeeding is not a vegan diet, but an animal diet. We recommend that, if possible, all children be fully breastfed for six months and continued to be breastfed even after complementary foods have been introduced. If the mother does not have any nutrient deficiencies, this is very healthy. But if she has been on a vegan diet for a long time, then her breast milk also contains too little vitamin B12, for example. In such cases it is important that mother and/or child receive supplements. We often see children in children’s hospitals who suffer from severe neurological damage such as seizures and brain damage because they were breastfed by vegan mothers for a long time and were given vegan supplementary food for a long time.

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Do such disturbances disappear again?

The tragedy is that half of these children have permanent damage. If a vegan woman is breastfeeding, she should definitely take nutritional supplements – this already applies during pregnancy. This period and the first two years of the child’s life are particularly sensitive periods as the brain and nervous system are developing. But functional impairments can also occur later. If you want to protect your child, you have to combine a vegan diet with supplements.

Are children who eat this diet as well cared for as children who eat a non-vegetarian diet?

It is better to meet nutritional needs with food. They contain more than just the essential nutrients. In addition, the availability of nutrients is also different. For example, the body can absorb iron from fish or meat much better than from many preparations.

How well has the topic been scientifically researched?

There are many studies on this. One, for example, showed that children on a vegan diet not only have a lower body weight, but also a shorter body length. This shows very clearly that the body is not optimally supplied with nutrients, i.e. is not making use of its growth potential. It has also been shown that children on a vegan and vegetarian diet are significantly more likely to have an iron deficiency than those on an omnivorous diet, i.e. those who also eat fish or meat. It must be said that even small amounts of fish or meat are enough. Basically, all experts advocate a plant-based diet.

In a vegan diet, the protein should come from pulses and whole grains. But most children prefer spaghetti and pizza. Can “picky eating” pose an additional risk?

This can be a problem, it depends on the child and the family. It also depends on what the child is used to. Most children who follow a vegetarian and vegan diet are not protein deficient. But it is important to combine foods cleverly to meet your protein needs, for example beans or lentils with rice or wheat.

How do people view the topic of vegan nutrition among children in other countries?

In the USA, this is viewed less critically. However, it must be taken into account that supplementation is much more widespread there. Many foods are enriched with nutrients. In the USA, it is also considered “good form” to go to the drugstore and buy a nutritional supplement. That is why a vegan diet is more widely possible there, because vegan ready-made products usually contain the critical nutrients and many people take a supplement anyway.

And apart from the USA…?

There are a high number of vegan people in India. Vitamin B12 deficiency is widespread there. I just spoke to an Indian pediatrician who found vitamin B12 deficiency very common during newborn screening. The infants often had developmental problems and other problems, such as anemia. This is a very big health problem that we now want to address with various initiatives.